It's estimated that up to 1 million Americans suffer from inflammatory bowel disease. Inflammation of the bowel typically causes changes in the mucosa or the gastrointestinal (GI) tract wall tissue. Inflammatory bowel disease typically refers to two chronic diseases that cause inflammation of the intestines: ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. The most common symptoms of both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are diarrhea and abdominal pain.
Inflammatory bowel disease can be hard to diagnose because there may be no symptoms, even if the person's bowel has become increasingly damaged for years. Once symptoms do appear, they often resemble those of other conditions, which may make it difficult for doctors to diagnose.
To date, inflammatory bowel disease is monitored by physicians noting a patient's symptoms and manually giving a score based on the reported symptoms. However, there is not always a full correlation between the symptoms and the patient's real condition.